Preliminary Hearings Archives

Categories: Legislation, Motions Dismiss/Strike, Preliminary Hearings, Pretrial Motions, Procedural Requirements, Statutory Construction

Summary

Because defendant's Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150 hold did not automatically toll the 60-day time period for his preliminary hearing, the information in his case must be set aside. Defendant was charged with a felony in a complaint and…

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Name: People v. Black

Case #: H043360

Opinion Date: 02/16/2017

Categories: Crimes, Elements of Crimes, Evidence, Insufficiency/Sufficiency of, Preliminary Hearings, Probable Cause

Summary

Dismissal of securities violation counts (Corp. Code, §§ 25401, 25540, subd. (b)) proper because promissory note did not qualify as a "security" under the Howey test. Black approached Knarr with a real estate investment opportunity in Idaho. In a promissory…

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Name: People v. Smith

Case #: A141407

Opinion Date: 03/17/2016

Categories: Motions Dismiss/Strike, Preliminary Hearings, Pretrial Motions, Procedural Requirements

Summary

Trial court erred by dismissing a complaint where prosecutor, without giving notice, requested a continuance of the preliminary hearing to a date within 10 court days of the defendant's plea. Smith with charged with possessing heroin. He invoked his right…

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Name: People v. Arroyo

Case #: S219178

Opinion Date: 01/14/2016

Categories: Preliminary Hearings, Procedural Requirements

Summary

Welfare and Institutions Code section 707, subdivision (d) allows certain juveniles accused of specified offenses to be charged directly in criminal court by grand jury indictment. A grand jury indicted Arroyo, a juvenile, and six codefendants for various gang-related offenses.…

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Name: Mason v. Superior Court

Case #: C075149

Opinion Date: 11/30/2015

Categories: Crimes, Grand Jury, Lesser-Included Offenses, Mens Rea, Pleadings, Preliminary Hearings, Procedural Requirements

Summary

Prosecution may obtain an indictment charging defendant with arson (Pen. Code, § 451) despite the fact he was already held to answer for illegal burning (Pen. Code, § 452). In July 2012, Mason threw an illegal firework into a swimming…

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Name: People v. Lind et al.

Case #: B250350

Opinion Date: 10/15/2014

Categories: Preliminary Hearings, Procedural Requirements

Summary

A defendant's motion to disqualify the magistrate for cause tolls the time limit for a preliminary hearing. Lind and Murphy were charged with conspiracy to commit perjury and perjury. They pled not guilty. Because they did not waive their right…

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Name: People v. Rowe

Case #: D063847

Opinion Date: 04/04/2014

Categories: Actus Reus, Crimes, Crimes Against the Person, Elements of Crimes, Preliminary Hearings, Probable Cause

Summary

Magistrate erred in not binding over defendant on charges of soliciting rape and forcible sodomy where she posted online ads for sexual partners for an unwitting victim. Rowe became angry at the victim and her husband after they outbid her…

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Name: Curry v. Superior Court (Orange County)

Case #: G047000

Opinion Date: 06/25/2013

Categories: Hearsay at Px, Preliminary Hearings

Summary

Investigator may testify at preliminary hearing regarding experts' findings on cause of death. Appellant's wife was killed in 1994. He was not charged with her murder until 2010, when forensic testing confirmed she was killed by lethal levels of nicotine…

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Name: People v. Gutierrez

Case #: A134695

Opinion Date: 03/12/2013

Categories: Areas Constitutional Law, Discovery, Due Process, Preliminary Hearings, Pretrial Motions, Procedural Requirements

Summary

The prosecution's Brady obligation to disclose favorable and material evidence applies to preliminary hearings and was not abrogated by Proposition 115. Appellant was charged with two counts of Penal Code section 288, subdivision (a), and held to answer on the…

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Name: Bridgeforth v. Superior Court (People)

Case #: B244661

Opinion Date: 03/25/2013

Categories: By Prosecutor, Discovery, Misconduct, Preliminary Hearings, Pretrial Motions, Procedural Requirements

Summary

Prosecutor did not violate her duty to disclose evidence prior to the preliminary hearing because photographs of the victim's truck were not favorable to the defense or material to the probable cause determination. Bridgeforth was charged with four offenses, including…

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